Environmental and Social Factors as Predictors of Post Graduate Students Propensity to Dropout at the University of Calabar - Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined environmental and social factors as potential indicators of postgraduate students' propensity to drop out at the University of Calabar in Nigeria. In the study, three research questions and null hypotheses were developed and examined. The research design was a descriptive survey. All postgraduate students registered in the University of Calabar between 2016 and 2019 makes up the population of the study, which is made up of 7267 students spread throughout 18 faculties. The unintentional sampling technique was adopted to collect data from fifty (50) post-graduate students from different parts of the school as a sample. Data were gathered using a tool called the "Environmental and Social Variables Factors of Dropout Tendency Questionnaire (ESVFDTQ)". By giving the respondents an instrument (ESVFDTQ), primary data were acquired. The suitable statistical instrument for testing the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance was an independent t-test statistical analysis. The results showed that family history had a substantial impact on postgraduate students' propensity to drop out their study field. Additionally, the results showed that peer pressure and absenteeism had a considerable impact on the likelihood that postgraduate students in the study field will drop out to collect fifty (50) post-graduate students from different parts of the school as a sample. Data were gathered using a tool called the "Environmental and Social Variables Factors of Dropout Questionnaire (ESVFDTQ)". The study recommended, among other things, that parents should be fully educated on population size and education, that there should be a massive education campaign to inform the parents and the general public on alternative ways to check school dropout, and that the government shouldn't shift the entire responsibility of financing education to parents since the majority of parents are financially handicapped and poor. Particularly when it comes to student attendance and truancy, the school administration should be tough with its rules and regulations. Adolescents should receive the necessary guidance from their parents and teachers to help them realize how the friends they choose can have a positive or bad impact on their schoolwork.